Thirteen Weddings

by Paige Toon

‘The bride and groom silhouettes look good, though,’ he comments, touching his hand to mine so I slow down.

  ‘Rachel manually exposes when she shoots in front of a window, so she will have got what she needs,’ I tell him, noticing the slight waver to my voice. ‘Check this out.’ I go back to the pictures of the groom before the service.

  ‘Bloody hell,’ he exclaims, pulling the camera closer to his face. ‘What a miserable twat.’

  ‘I know.’ I laugh and look up at him.

  Rachel joins us. ‘Hey, guys,’ she says, nodding towards the reception venue and then at me. ‘We should get back.’

  ‘Sure,’ I reply.

  ‘How much longer do you think you’ll be?’ Alex asks me.

  ‘Not long, thankfully. We’ve just got to tick the first dance box and then we’ll be done.’

  ‘Is there a pub nearby?’

  ‘There’s one next door.’

  Alex spins around and walks backwards for a few steps, facing the others. ‘Why don’t we go for a couple of beers and wait for Bronte?’

  ‘Good plan,’ they concur.

  Alex spins back around and flashes me a sidelong smile. ‘Then we could all walk back together.’

  Chapter 13

  ‘I need a drink. A big one,’ Rachel says. ‘Damn, I’m driving,’ she remembers.

  Rachel and I join the others at the pub as soon as we can. It is such a relief to be done with that day.

  ‘Why don’t you leave your car here and walk back with us?’ Alex suggests. ‘I can give you a lift here in the morning.’

  ‘Thanks, but I’m kipping at the B&B. You can have your terrible night’s sleep, but I’ve got a bed to go back to.’

  We take our drinks to the table where the others are sitting.

  ‘Bronte!’ Lachie exclaims when he clocks me. He’s already had a few and his effervescent personality is practically bubbling over.

  Rachel sits down and Alex sets off to hunt out another chair.

  ‘She doesn’t need one,’ Lachie calls after him, pulling me onto his lap. I gasp with surprise. Then he buries his face in my neck and laughingly kisses me over and over, just above my collarbone.

  ‘Argh!’ I squeal. His beard tickles. ‘Stop it!’ I manage to spit out, smacking his thigh.

  He stops kissing me, but he keeps his warm arms hooked around my waist and smiles up at me, his light blue eyes twinkling. What a flirt.

  Alex averts his gaze from us and sits down, picking up a pint glass.

  ‘What’s Zara up to this weekend?’ I ask, trying to include him. I don’t want him to regret coming.

  ‘She’s—’

  ‘Who’s Zara?’ Lachie interrupts before Alex can reply.

  ‘His fiancée,’ I tell him over my shoulder.

  ‘Really?’ He says it with total surprise, looking past me to Alex. ‘You getting married, mate?’

  ‘Yep,’ Alex replies shortly.

  ‘When?’ he asks.

  ‘December.’

  ‘You gonna get Bron to do your wedding?’ Lachie rests one hand lightly on my right leg.

  ‘Rachel’s doing it,’ I say hastily with a smile in her direction.

  ‘Well, if you need an awesome wedding singer, you know where to find me,’ he says cheekily, jigging me up and down on his knee.

  ‘Would you stop that?’ I slap his thigh again. He’s wearing scruffy denim jeans.

  ‘I’ll keep you in mind,’ Alex replies drily. ‘She’s in New York for work,’ he answers my question, trying to ignore the person whose knee I’m sitting on.

  ‘Again?’

  He nods.

  ‘Does she go there a lot?’

  ‘Every few weeks.’

  ‘You must miss her,’ Lisa says, listening in.

  ‘Yeah.’ He shrugs.

  ‘Ever thought about moving to New York?’ Lisa asks.

  My heart skips a beat.

  ‘Aah, not really,’ Alex replies, meeting my eyes again. And then Lachie buries his face in my neck once more and I’m distracted fighting off his ticklish kisses.

  We head back to the campsite while it’s still light enough to see. Bridget, with her sore feet, hitches a lift with Rachel, but the rest of us are happy to get some fresh air.

  ‘What’s the story with your mate?’ Lachie asks me in a low voice, nodding ahead at Alex, who’s walking next to Lisa and talking about work. Alex asked me a similar question about Lachie on the way up here.

  ‘What do you mean? There’s no story,’ I say innocently.

  ‘What’s going on between you?’

  ‘Nothing,’ I exclaim under my breath, keeping my voice low so no one can hear us. ‘You heard him. He’s getting married in December.’

  He thinks for a minute before speaking. ‘If you don’t mind me saying, things seem a little tense between you two. It’s like you’ve got history.’

  Now I really am tense. ‘I do mind you saying, and I’d appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut.’

  He digs his hands into his jeans pockets, but the ensuing silence doesn’t last for long.

  ‘Do the others know?’

  ‘Know what?’

  ‘About your history?’

  ‘What history? I didn’t say we had any history!’

  Lachie gives me a look, and for once there’s no trace of amusement on his face.

  I take a deep breath and give in. I think he’ll keep my secret safe.

  ‘If you really want to know,’ I say quietly, ‘Alex and I met a year and a half ago when he was on a break from his girlfriend. Something... happened,’ I leave him to fill in the blanks. ‘I didn’t expect to ever see him again.’

  ‘And now he works with you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Fuuuuuck,’ he says slowly.

  ‘That’s one way of putting it.’

  ‘Never mind, Bronnie, I’ll take your mind off him.’ He wraps his arm around my neck and pulls me close.

  Bronnie? ‘Oh, stop.’ I push him away and Alex looks back at us, hearing the commotion. I force a light laugh and he returns to his conversation with Lisa. ‘I don’t need anyone to take my mind off him, thanks,’ I say under my breath. ‘There’s nothing between us, and I’m happy being single right now, anyway.’

  ‘Just trying to be helpful,’ he says quietly. I glance at him to see if I’ve hurt his feelings, but I can’t tell. His expression is too hard to read.

  The path turns to a grey stone one, and small clouds of dust puff up around Alex’s Converse trainers as we walk. I take out my camera and start to click off some shots. This view around us is breathtaking. Majestic mountains slant across each other and the beech trees are still lime green with fresh new leaves, undarkened by the summer sun. Bluebells peek out of the grass amid the ferns, and I almost short with laughter. This is so perfect it looks staged. If I saw a film with a set like this, I’d think it was a tad overdone.

  I turn and click off a photo of Lachie, then call to the others to spin around. Alex pushes his hair off his face. He looks gorgeous in black jeans and a dark grey long-sleeve T-shirt pushed up to the elbows. I do think he has sexy forearms.

  Oh dear. I really shouldn’t be thinking such thoughts.

  We leave the dry path and climb a slight hill to get to the campsite. The green grass is shaggy and wet underfoot and my boots squelch through the bog. Lachie leaps like a goat over the muddiest patches, helping the rest of us to navigate our ways. We reach a sturdy wooden gate attached to a chunky, moss-covered stone wall and pass through it into a forest of pine trees.

  The others have already set up their tents and built a fire, so now all they have to do is light it.

  Russ and Alex take control. The fire crackles into life in the centre of a large log circle meant for sitting on. Four tents surround the circle, facing the fire. Lisa is in one, Alex and Russ are staying in another, Lachie has a small one-person tent to himself and Bridget was supposed to have the fourth tent before she decided to sleep at the B&B. Maria and I have
agreed to swap with her.

  Lisa brings a couple of bottles of Prosecco out of her tent with disposable glasses, and Maria emerges two seconds later with bags of popcorn and marshmallows. Then Bridget appears from behind her tent with a cake, lit with candles. Lachie follows, strumming his guitar.

  ‘Aw!’ I cry, as everyone sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. There’s a number ‘30’-shaped candle on the top, and the flame flickers as Bridget steps carefully around the fire towards me. My eyes mist up and I blow out the candles, touched by the effort everyone has gone to.

  ‘Thank you,’ I say meaningfully, giving Bridget a clumsy hug around the cake she’s holding.

  ‘Happy birthday, Bronte.’ Russ steps over a log to give me a kiss on my cheek.

  ‘It’s not her birthday yet,’ Bridget reminds him. ‘Don’t forget it’s on the twelfth. I can’t believe I’m not going to be here for you.’

  ‘Don’t be silly. You’ll be having a brilliant time,’ I say.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Lachie asks her.

  They chat about Key West while everyone settles themselves on log seats around the fire. I sit between Russ and Lisa, with Alex on the other side of Russ. Russ and I talk about work and he slags off Nicky on my behalf, then we move on to trying to get information out of Alex about Simon’s plans for a redesign. After a while, Russ gets up to go and sit next to Maria and Lisa joins in a conversation with Rachel beside her.

  ‘I didn’t know Nicky was still giving you a hard time,’ Alex says, shifting to close the gap between us.

  ‘Not always,’ I reply, holding out my hands to warm them on the fire. ‘It’s no big deal.’

  ‘It doesn’t sound good,’ he says with concern.

  I glance at him to see him staring at me, the orange glow from the fire lighting one side of his face and casting shadow across the other. His eyes are dark in the low light, his hair black and pushed back from his face. My heart flips and lands with a dull thud. I can’t be feeling like this about him.

  ‘Who wants a song around the campfire?’ Lachie interrupts loudly.

  ‘Yeah!’ all the girls reply.

  Alex drags his eyes away from mine and sighs quietly as Lachie starts to play an acoustic version of Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’.

  I look over at the girls’ rapt expressions and then see Russ give Alex a resigned look.

  ‘You’ve got to admit, he’s a damn good singer,’ I comment.

  ‘Mmm,’ Alex grunts his reply. ‘I heard too much of this song last summer.’

  ‘What sort of music do you like, then?’ I ask with amusement at his jealousy.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ he says casually. ‘Kylie, Starship, T’Pau...’

  I laugh and he grins. ‘As long as it’s from the Eighties, I love it,’ he jokes.

  ‘Now I know that is not true,’ I point out with a significant look.

  ‘I never said I didn’t like Eighties music.’

  ‘True,’ I admit. ‘Do you?’ I ask with surprise.

  ‘Not really,’ he replies with a chuckle. ‘Although I don’t mind UB40.’

  We danced to ‘Red, Red Wine’. My head prickles at the memory.

  Lachie sings about being up all night to get lucky, his eyes locking with mine. He grins at me and I smile a small smile back before looking at the fire.

  ‘I wouldn’t go there,’ Alex warns quietly.

  ‘What?’ I look at him to see the torn expression on his face. He shoots a quick glance at Lachie. ‘Nothing,’ he says under his breath. I jolt as he gets up abruptly and walks away from us. ‘You alright, mate?’ Russ calls after him. ‘Just going for a leak,’ he replies flatly. I stare at the fire, confusion muddling my brain.

  Later, when all of the alcohol has been drunk and all of the snacks devoured, I see Maria huddled over with Lisa. Rachel called it a night a while ago, Russ and Alex have gone to gather some more wood, Lachie has picked up his guitar again, and Bridget is on the phone to the taxi company.

  ‘Oi!’ I hiss at Maria. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Just discussing sleeping arrangements,’ she replies with an embarrassed smile. She turns back to Lisa. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Hang on, who’s sleeping where?’ I whisper loudly.

  ‘Maria and Russ are in one,’ Lisa tells me while trying to keep a straight face. ‘And I’ll go in with you, if you’re still staying?’

  ‘Yep,’ I nod.

  ‘Bridget’s going back to the B&B,’ she adds.

  ‘No, I’m not,’ Bridget says loudly, ending her call. ‘I can’t get a cab.’

  ‘Oh,’ I say, finding it hard to take her disappointment seriously. ‘Bad luck.’

  ‘In that case, do you two want to go in together?’ Lisa asks us. ‘Lachie can go in with Alex and I’ll have the one-person tent,’ she decides with a smile.

  ‘Hang on, what’s going on?’ Alex reappears, overhearing the last part of our conversation. Lachie stops playing and listens.

  ‘Can Lachie go in your tent with you?’ I ask.

  ‘Why?’ His brow furrows.

  ‘Russ and Maria are going together...’ I say with meaning.

  ‘Oh!’ He cottons on, but doesn’t look too happy about his new tent partner.

  ‘I don’t mind sharing with Bronnie,’ Lachie says with a wink. He’s clearly in two minds about what my pet name should be. Bron or Bronnie?

  ‘You’re in a one-person tent. Bronte won’t fit,’ Alex points out firmly, emphasising the second syllable of my name.

  ‘She’s only little,’ Lachie says. ‘We can cuddle up,’ he adds cheekily.

  ‘You don’t give in, do you?’ Bridget laughs.

  ‘Just trying to be helpful, Bridgie,’ he says cheerfully.

  ‘No, you can come in with me,’ Alex tells him decisively. ‘Why doesn’t Bronte have the one-person tent, seeing as it’s her birthday,’ he suggests.

  ‘Good idea,’ Lisa agrees.

  ‘I don’t care where I sleep,’ I say to Alex. ‘But I really hope you have a spare sleeping bag.’

  ‘I could keep you warm,’ Lachie says.

  ‘Yes, I have a spare sleeping bag,’ Alex says loudly, ignoring him.

  ‘Just give me a shout if you get cold,’ Lachie chips in.

  ‘Would you leave her alone?’ Alex exclaims.

  I think he’s joking.

  Finally, after quite a lot of kerfuffle, I’m settled in a tent. Lachie and Alex are sniping at each other in the tent next door, and Bridget is complaining in the tent next to them. On my other side, Russ and Maria are giggling quietly. After what seems like forever, everyone quietens down and I roll over on my side on the hard ground. A bird makes a racket in the trees.

  ‘What the fuck was that?’ Lachie’s voice pierces the silence.

  ‘A pheasant,’ Alex says wearily. ‘The forest never sleeps,’ he adds in a mock wildlife documentary-style voice, making me purse my lips.

  Russ and Maria whisper to each other and try to stifle their giggles and then silence descends once more.

  I’m just drifting off when I hear the sound of them kissing.

  ‘At least someone’s getting some,’ Lachie mutters.

  ‘Shut up!’ Alex snaps.

  The rest of us laugh. I fall asleep to the sound of Maria and Russ ‘getting some’.

  The next morning I wake up early with a sore head and a full bladder. I slept in my clothes so all I have to do is pull on my boots and unzip the tent. The air is damp and the fire is long gone, a circle of ash set within a ring of logs. I straighten up and stretch my arms over my head, yawning, then I set off towards the toilet block.

  After kicking myself for failing to bring so much as a toothbrush, I re-emerge and see Lachie and Bridget approaching. He has his arm draped around her neck and for a moment I think I’ve missed something, but then I realise he’s only being his usual friendly self.

  ‘Bronnie!’ he says jubilantly, letting go of Bridget and ruffling her hair. She bats him away with annoyance,
looking thoroughly fed up.

  Her new blunt bob has not fared well overnight. She looks like she’s wearing a birds’ nest. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask her with a grin.

  ‘No, I’m flipping exhausted,’ she snaps, but her lips are pursed so I know she’s not completely serious. She walks past me into the toilet block and Lachie opens his arms up to me. I smile and step into his embrace. His arms close around me and I rest my face against his warm chest.

  ‘How did you sleep?’ he asks, his voice muffled against my hair as he rocks me slightly.

  ‘Fine,’ I murmur, feeling stupidly content.

  He really is so sweet and friendly and tactile, and yes, flirty too, not just with me, but with everyone. I like him, though. A lot. I’m glad we’re friends.

  I pull away and look up at him. ‘You?’

  ‘Same. I can sleep anywhere.’ His light blue eyes are tired and his shaggy blond hair looks even more just-slept-in than usual. ‘I don’t think Maria and Russ got much shut-eye,’ he adds with a raised eyebrow.

  ‘No? I fell asleep after the kissing started.’

  ‘They make a funny couple,’ he comments, mystified.

  Physically, they’re opposites – Russ is tall with red hair, pale skin and freckles, and Maria is short and curvy with olive skin and dark glossy hair.

  ‘They seem to get on.’

  He laughs. ‘They certainly do.’ He lets me go. ‘See ya in a bit.’

  When I get back to the tents, Alex is awake and building another fire.

  ‘Morning,’ I say warmly.

  ‘Hey.’ He gives me a sleepy smile.

  ‘Would you mind running me over to the B&B so I can brush my teeth and change my clothes?’

  ‘Sure,’ he replies. ‘You want to go now?’

  ‘That would be great. When you’re ready.’

  ‘You are so going to have a shower, aren’t you?’ Bridget butts in, arriving back in time to hear the tail end of our conversation. ‘That’s cheating!’

  ‘You can come with me,’ I tell her.

  ‘Bloody brilliant idea,’ she says, scrambling back into her tent to grab what she needs.

  Maria entrusts us with checking out and bringing her bags back. She has no desire to leave Russ – she’s got that flush of new love about her.

  Back at the B&B I have a quick shower and get changed in the bathroom while Alex and Bridget lie propped up on the bed, watching TV. I emerge feeling a million times better.